NextTech

Higher CPMs, better viewability, traceable results—these are KPIs that every publisher is looking to find and expand on. But what if there were already companies out there that are accomplishing those, and in an all-too-familiar way? That’s what this year’s NextTech is all about!

This session introduces three companies that have successfully found better ways to sell old forms of advertising—all leading to increased revenue for your company. These companies—Evvnt, Optimera and Spotible—each have a successful track record of revenue growth for their media clients using different, and effective, ways of monetizing advertising models that were once considered untenable.

Evvnt: This is a premium event distribution platform that serves as a turnkey solution that turns event listings into a significant revenue generator. Evvnt has recently completed a strategic raise and is now doing a big push into the U.S. market, having already secured their first client. Learn more at www.evvnt.com/Panelist: Richard Green, founder and CEO of EvvntDownload the presentation

Optimera: This company was actually founded within a major market newspaper, the New York Daily News, and proved so effective that it spun out on its own. Optimera is an automated solution for discovering, managing, targeting and optimizing viewability—that is, ensuring that ads are served in locations that consumers can actually see them. Optimera allows publishers to greatly increase the amount of viewabiltiy that advertisers are asking for. Learn more at http://www.optimera.nyc/Panelist: Keith Candiotti,founder and CEO of Optimera

Spotible: This company has developed custom ad creation, AI classification, and cross-channel targeting technology that makes it easy for any advertising/sales department to deliver high-quality, modern-looking advertising http://spotible.com/Panelist: Dana Ghavami, founder and CEO, Spotible.

Remember when podcasts were passé? Newspapers and media companies are discovering there’s not just new life in podcasting—but opportunities to drive audience and revenue. This panel discussion will include the basics—what podcasts are, why they are valuable and how to get started—plus the new strategies that are paying off in audience and revenue.

4:00 to 5:00 p.m. Alexa, What are some case studies of newspapers making money from voice-enabled devices

Mims

Presented by Jeremy Mims, Head of Strategy and Partnerships, SpokenLayer

SpokenLayer is a pioneer in providing content for—and enabling monetization from the increasingly ubiquitous voice-enabled in-home devices such as Amazon’s Alexa or Google Home. Their success stories include metro daily publishers such as The Oklahoman, A.H. Belo and Gannett Co. Inc.—but also companies with small-and medium-sized local newspapers such as GateHouse Media, Adams Publishing Group and Schurz Communications. Listen to the opportunities for voice for your newspaper.

5:00 p.m. Adjourn

6:00 p.m. Opening reception

Monday September 10

7:30 to 8:15 a.m. Breakfast in the Exhibitors Lounge

8:15 to 8:30 a.m. Welcome and introductions

8:30 to 9:30 a.m. The softer—and more effective—side of building powerful teams

Great companies become great not because of their properties—but their people inside a company making it great. In the quest for greatness, today’s leaders must restructure their priorities in a way that makes “people potential enhancement” the number one objective. The good news: In this arena, all things are possible. Teams can create a better and more sustainable future for the company. Employees can transcend into partners—sharing the common and deeply rooted goal for their success, the company’s success and a great future for the community they serve. More good news: Every one of us is born with the ability to do this. To remain vital to society and grow in relevance—newspaper must accomplish this!

Newspaper companies have made money from two products for the past 150 years: subscriptions and advertising. The Seattle Times has been building a new product line for the past seven years: journalism labs. These are independent journalism initiatives that drive social impact, funded by philanthropic foundations, corporations and nonprofits that want to improve the world. These labs have allowed the newspaper to continue improving the quality of the news product and hire more reporters—even as print ad revenue continues to decline. Learn how you can apply the same approach to the communities you serve.

Ryan Dohrn has gathered the very best sales tips and success stories from around the globe and is ready to share them with you! The only question: Can you keep up? This will be 60 minutes of fun as he shares 60 ideas from his global adventures working with over 400 media companies and over 5,000 media sales reps. Every idea is working today in newspaper companies large and small. And all ideas are proven with real revenue results. This is a rapid-fire format where a live countdown clock on the screen will keep Ryan on track and keep you wondering how he has this much information packed into 60 minutes.

Design thinking, a creative approach to problem solving, is increasingly popular in organizations across many business sectors to stimulate innovation. In this fast-paced introduction to design thinking, you’ll learn, how key "d.thinking" techniques can cultivate innovation and strategic leadership in your organization, and hear real life cases of how news organizations are using design thinking for success.

In today’s workplace, there are four generations working side by side. While there is great variety in each generation, similar values, attitudes, and preferences are prevalent in each age cohort. This session provides insights into our multi-generational workplace, implicit bias, age discrimination, and workplace best practices through an experiential journey. You’ll learn exactly what implicit bias is and its relevancy or irrelevancy to workplace decisions, age discrimination in an aging workforce, and best practices to ensure non-discriminatory decision-making.

Print remains a powerful platform to generate both revenue and profits. Don’t be left on the sidelines as successful newspapers are moving into the magazine space, delivering high-quality local publications and drawing big revenue commitments from local advertisers. A "don’t miss" session.

Meet in the main lobby for a trip to Eataly, one of Chicago’s premier Italian restaurants and markets, to learn the true art of fresh pasta making from a world-class chef in a hands-on experience. After enjoying the fruits of your labor,shop for ingredients at the in-store market, explore the rest of Michigan Avenue, or return immediately to the hotel.

The local real estate landscape has changed before our eyes—and back in favor of newspapers! Owners and agents are moving money out of digital verticals like Zillow and Trulia, preferring marketing options that raise their “top of mind awareness” and personal brand within the neighborhoods they serve.

You in newspapers already own the solutions they crave. Learn how to win back the sizable local dollars that are now in play!

In this “fireside chat” with leaders of the parent of the Hagerstown (Md.) Herald-Mail, learn how to harness the power of your audience to grow your revenues by as much as 20%--in revenue that real and new. This team has leveraged the diverse portfolio of audiences served by Herald-Mail Media as a way to broaden the conversation with their advertiser and expand the sales team’s view of how they can sell audiences to a more diverse set of advertisers. This team created multi-media programs that expose advertisers and sales people to a unique way of marketing.

6:30 to 8:00 p.m. Evening eventTailgate! Join Inland and AMG/Parade for a Football Tailgate party at the top of the Willis Tower! Wear your favorite team attire, enjoy tailgate-themed appetizers and beverages, and watch the season opener of Monday Night Football.

Matt Maloney is the co-founder of GrubHub, the wildly successful online and mobile food ordering company that connects diners with local restaurants. GrubHub now has an active diner network of 14.5 million users who can order from more than 80,000 takeout restaurants in over 1,600 cities. Matt Maloney also brings a newspaper perspective to the innovation that created GrubHub, as the son of a longtime executive for Schurz Communications.

9:30 to 10:00 a.m. Refreshment break

10:00 to 11:00 a.m. Creating and capturing value for customers – How to grow revenue with smart product development, marketing, and customer management.

Gorman

Lindsay

Chan

News media companies are transitioning from a primarily ad-supported product to a balanced consumer-revenue and advertising-revenue supported product that spans both print and digital formats. How do publishers grow total revenue – print, digital, consumer, and advertising? Analytics plays a key role in determining what should be in the product, marketing the product to the target audience, and managing the customer lifecycle. Hear from Jim Gorman of the Philadelphia Inquirer, Sharon Pian Chan of the Seattle Times, and Matt Lindsay of Mather Economics on how their organizations are tackling these topics.

Facilitated by the man with no shortage of revenue ideas -- Mike Blinder, President, The Blinder Group

This is your chance to participate in a fun and interactive round robin of revenue ideas and successes submitted in advance of the meeting. Submissions will be voted on ‘live time’ using auto polling during the session. This session is guaranteed to generate lots of money-making ideas—and a big payoff for someone with a prize-winning example. First Place - $300 on the spot! Second and third place awards as well.

An earlier session at the Annual Meeting introduced participants to the key elements of design thinking, a useful framework for problem solving with stakeholder input. In this workshop, learn what “d.thinking” techniques can deliver for your organization. Discover how to apply design thinking to audience engagement—with proven revenue results. If your business model includes direct audience support—meaning subscriptions or memberships—this workshop will open your eyes to the relationship between meaningful engagement with the public, the content you produce and bottom-line success.

Your conference starts just before the Annual Meeting with a reception and family dinner Friday evening, September 7, and a full day of sessions Saturday, September 8. The Family Owners meeting will take place at the Willis Tower offices of Seyfarth Shaw. Learn more.

Registration fees:

Members $895
Additional registrants from the same newspaper only $350**

** newspapers only are eligible for this discount and must be from the same newspaper (not media company.)

Non-members $1,095

Spouse/Guest $250

First time attendee from member newspaper
$495**Member newspapers only are eligible for this discount

Here's a simple but meaningful contribution you can make to secure the future of newspaper journalism: Fund the attendance of a student journalist at Inland's 133rd Annual Meeting in Chicago September 9-11.

Just click here to add to your legacy in ensuring the next generation of impactful journalists. Just add $50 to your registration fee, and we'll provide a student journalist life-changing experience of attending the Annual Meeting.

What does that mean? That the student journalist will be learning our business at Inland's practical, actionable sessions, networking with potential mentors, discovering their path in securing the future of our industry.